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Blackwater Immunity Deal: Huge Conflict-of-Interest

State Department investigators of the September 16h Blackwater Nisour Square shooting have granted limited immunity to Blackwater operators who were present at the incident, according to the Associated Press. But the press reports missed a key fact: The State Department’s investigators are from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the very bureau of the State Department that contracts with Blackwater for the services in question and that is responsible for operational control of those missions. Can you say conflict of interest?

This is a milestone in government outsourcing. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a contracting agency has ever granted legal immunity to a contractor or contractors’ employees faced with potential criminal penalties.

As their contract monitors, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security would have known if the Blackwater operators were doing their jobs as prescribed by their Bureau contract. They would have known whether the contractors were working under a very aggressive Mission Fire Plan, which allowed point-and-spray marksmanship. My suspicion is that Diplomatic Security knew that Blackwater — er, I mean, "The BW Group" — operators were working within established State guidelines, even though this resulted in significant loss of life. Regardless, it should raise red flags for everyone concerned with government accountability in in the new age of national security outsourcing.

UPDATE: "The State Department investigators from the agency’s investigative arm, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, offered the immunity grants even though they did not have the authority to do so," the Times is reporting. "The immunity deals came as an unwelcome surprise at the Justice Department, which was already grappling with the fundamental legal question of whether any prosecutions could take place involving American civilians in Iraq."